With 16 consecutive wins at the notoriously tough Rally Dakar the KTM Factory Racing Team is gearing up for another tough battle in January with the sole aim of continuing this unbelievable success-streak.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing´s Matthias Walkner secured a well-deserved victory at the 2017 OiLibya Rally, which marked the fifth and final round of the 2017 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship.

KTM had been unbeaten since 2001 when more than 140 riders lined up for the start of the 39th edition of the Dakar Rally in Asunción on January 2, 2017. Orange was once again the predominant color at the start line – over half of the competitors had opted for the machine that so often wins this event, the KTM 450 RALLY.

Following his illustrious 10-year Dakar career, Jordi Viladoms hung up his racing boots at the beginning of 2016 to take on a key role within KTM’s rally team. Becoming the Sport Manager the Spaniard has been busy putting his vast experience to good use with the goal of guiding KTM’s official riders on their quest for more winning glory.

Living within an hour’s drive of KTM’s headquarters, Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Racing Team’s Matthias Walkner is Austria’s next big thing in international rally competition. A member of the KTM family for more than a decade, the 30-year-old rider from Salzburg enters his third Dakar Rally knowing he has what it takes to battle for the top.

It’s an unbelievable spectacle, this Snow Speed Hill Race in Pichl, in the Styria region of Austria: 170 competitors tear up the ski piste at Reiteralm on motorcycles and snowmobiles. Winter sports holidaymakers are rubbing their eyes in disbelief at this crazy carry-on as they sip their après-ski drinks. It was just a pity that this time one of the favorites was forced to be a spectator.